Darwins Dilemma

1)He was well educated and had a strong interest in natural history

2)He also had keen powers of observation and an analytical mind

3)Each place he went he collected animal and plant specimens to his collection

(a)He examined his specimens and filled notebooks with his observations

B)Throughout the voyage he witnessed countless wonders of nature

1)He demanded explanations for these wonders

A)When Darwin visited tropical South America he saw countless species

1)In one Brazilian forest he collected 68 different species of beetles

2)This was amazing because he wasn’t specifically looking for beetles

B)Scientists now estimate that there are as many as 10 million species alive today

C)When Darwin traveled he found evidence of organisms that have vanished from the earth

1)Scientists estimate that more than 99.9% of the species that were alive are now extinct

2)That means that several hundred million species have become extinct

III)Fitness: To Survive and Reproduce

A)Darwin was impressed by the many different ways in which organisms survive

B)He noted that most animals and plants seem well designed to do

(c)Some snakes have tiny useless legs left over from these ancestors

Some topics in this essay:
Structure AIn, Development AScientists, Dating ARadioactive, Form AFossils, Canyon DThe, Natural Selection, Tells AThe, Rocks ABoth, Puzzle AThe, Dilemma ADarwin, fossil record, common ancestor, layers rock, chemical compounds, radioactive element, fossil record tells, organisms survive, found evidence, stages development, vestigial organs, survive reproduce, radioactive element half,